SSTI Digest

In the 30 years SSTI has been in existence and the 85 years of concerted federal focus on scientific discover and innovation, the priority of public-private R&D investment has been overwhelmingly nonpartisan. A recent report from the Pew Research Center confirms the cold-war, global competitiveness arguments for U.S science and technology still hold sway across political parties, but fissures in who should pay and who should work on science and tech efforts are beginning to grow. 

Over the past three years, public perception of the importance of global scientific and innovation leadership grew in importance according to the latest from Pew Research: the number of those who take this stand is up five percentage points since 2023, climbing to 91% of respondents. Partisan differences begin to emerge when Pew delved deeper. 

New research confirms what TBED practitioners already understand: there’s no single formula for building successful innovation-driven systems. That’s one of the reasons SSTI advises policy makers to focus on the strengths and needs of your region’s innovation system rather than how much your neighbors are spending. The study’s findings about the role of knowledge spillovers, however, offer useful insight into the characteristics that matter most for improving outcomes in your region.  

Vacant storefronts and empty downtown office buildings aren’t the only ways the pandemic-accelerated, technology-stimulated move to remote work has negatively impacted community cohesiveness, commitment to place, and economic opportunity resulting from aggregation. According to a newly released analysis of university campuses, the disconnection and under-utilization problem extends deeper into regions than many may realize. 

Looking at more than 100 institutions of higher education, Occuspace found that the average utilization of campus building space dropped 8 points to 45% in one year. Declining enrollment, aging facilities, deferred maintenance and desire for online courses will likely extend and expand the issues, the authors point out. Overcapacity extends across most types of academic buildings: 

Many institutions of higher education spend millions of dollars each year on R&D, with 37 having spent over $1 billion in FY 2024. These expenditures are made to drive innovation and create new technologies, methodologies, and more. Past SSTI coverage of the new FY 2024 Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey data release has explored the geographic spread of HERD expenditures at the state level. This edition of Useful Stats will explore HERD survey data at the institutional level for the 50 largest institutions by R&D expenditures and the sources of funds to allow them to conduct their work.

Campus entrepreneurship programs can lead to decades-long collaborations between academia and industry. Students may learn how to do their very first pitch deck. Or make a poster presentation. Or stand in front of a group of investors. And then go on to found a successful company (or two, or three) and create jobs for people in the area.

Note: Every profession has jargon. Practitioners of technology-based economic development know the field may have more than its fair share of confusing words and acronyms as it bridges numerous scientific and engineering disciplines, business and financial acumen, and public-private initiatives at all levels of government supporting regional innovation. This occasional series from the SSTI team provides introductions or reminders of some of the key concepts used across the practice. ~ Mark Skinner, SSTI President & CEO  

The Institutes and Centers of the National Institutes of Health receive an increase of $301 million in budget authority for a new total of $47.216 billion in FY 2026, a figure that stands in sharp contradiction to the severe cuts recommended in the Administration’s request. Additionally, ARPA-H is to receive $1.5 billion.

Of the nearly $7 billion in the FY 2026 appropriations bill working its way through Congress for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 51.7% is slated for “economic development initiatives (EDIs)” designated by members of Congress outside of any competitive process or assessment of need. The Community Development Block Grant program captures most of the rest of the funding at $3.3 billion. Separately, the Native American/Indian community block grant program is to receive $100 million.

With report language in the final budget package for FY 2026, Congress continues to thwart some of the administration’s efforts to shrink government operations and spending by fiat. In the Department of Transportation’s section, projects cannot be terminated without following established federal financial assistance regulations and established agency protocols. DOT must also inform Congress of how it will address the substantial backlog of projects, particularly of “awarded but not obligated competitive grant and community project funding.” This includes previously passed congressionally directed spending projects (earmarks) that the agency has not awarded, which is certainly one way to antagonize appropriators. Additionally, any “reprogramming requests must be submitted to the Committees on Appropriations no later than June 30, 2026.”

The breakthrough launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 sparked widespread questions about artificial intelligence and the future of work. How would generative AI reshape jobs and industries? Would certain roles become obsolete? How should education and training programs prepare workers for an AI-integrated workplace? To understand AI’s actual labor market impact, researchers examined unemployment patterns and hiring trends in AI-exposed occupations between 2022 and 2024 in a new study. Their findings suggest that labor market shifts in those fields began earlier than ChatGPT’s high-profile arrival might suggest.

Innovation districts have become a central tool in contemporary economic development, promoted for their ability to revitalize underused urban areas, attract high-growth firms, and strengthen regional competitiveness. Influenced by early work from Bruce Katz and colleagues at the Brookings Institution, many districts were intentionally located in formerly industrial or disinvested neighborhoods and initially delivered clear economic gains.

Most startups begin rich in vision but poor in financial support. Some founders have been known to go to great lengths to advance what they know to be worthwhile project. Asklepios BioPharmaceutical (AskBio), established in 2001, survived its earliest days with the help of bake sales held by families whose children had muscular dystrophy and believed in the startup's potential to develop treatments for the condition. When Lindy Biosciences was founded in 2017, its founder was not financially compensated for her time. However, after early assistance from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center (NCBiotech), both companies now have  market values measured in billions of dollars.